China issues white paper on judicial transparency

China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) published a white paper Tuesday on judicial transparency that said new measures introduced over the past two years have expanded both the scope and depth of judicial openness.[Special coverage]

"This is the first time the top court has reviewed the measures and effects of judicial reform on boosting transparency in the form of a white paper," said SPC spokesman Sun Jungong at a press conference Tuesday.

In the report, titled "Judicial Transparency of Chinese Courts," the SPC praised the creation of three online platforms devoted to disclosing trial proceedings, judgement documents and enforcement information, respectively, as key measures in a new round of reform.

On July 1, 2013, the SPC launched a national platform at court.gov.cn/zgcpwsw to disclose judgments and reconciliation statements.

From Aug. 22-26, 2013, a local court in Shandong Province posted details of the trial of Bo Xilai, former Party chief of Chongqing Municipality, via its Weibo account.

Over 150 Weibo messages were posted during the five-day court trial, according to the white paper.

On Dec. 4, 2013, the SPC broadcast via television and radio and offered online live streaming of the Qihoo 360 v. Tencent antitrust appeal case for over 28 hours, marking the first time the services were available to the public, according to the white paper.

On Dec. 11, 2013, China launched a website, ts.chinacourt.org, which allows the public to watch live video streams and recordings of court trials online.

On Nov. 1, 2014, the SPC launched a website to offer standard disclosure and inquiries for information on people who have defaulted on court-ordered payments, with information on nearly 21.5 million cases with unenforced verdicts published by the end of the year, it said.

On Nov. 13, 2014, the nation's first website for disclosing trial information was launched.

"Previously, information was disclosed in a sporadic way by local courts. Building national platforms to disseminate information in a uniform way has improved the practice," said He Xiaorong, who was in charge of drafting the white paper, at the press conference.

"Next we'll focus on promoting the intensity and scope of judicial transparency in the less-developed central and western regions," he said.